Low testosterone is associated with abdominal aneurysm

Here's one more paper for now in the 'series' on erectile dysfunction, testosterone, cardiovascular disease and insulin resistance, this one published recently in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism.

"The objective of the study was to examine whether male sex hormones are independently associated with AAA or increased abdominal aortic diameter."

AAA (abdominal aortic aneurysm) is a swelling of the aorta in the abdomen; a rupture means sudden death. They measured abdominal aortic diameter, total testosterone, SHBG (sex hormone binding globulin), and LH (luteinizing hormone). Free testosterone was calculated. This is what they found:

"Lower free testosterone and higher LH levels are independently associated with AAA in older men. Impaired gonadal function may be involved in arterial dilatation as well as occlusive vascular disease in older men."

Add the previous two posts to this and connect the dots. Low testosterone, erectile dysfunction with cardiovascular disease, death from cardiovascular disease, aortic aneurysm (blood vessel damage), and insulin resistance are all connected. So what do you do?Obviously life style factors and individually determined supplementation for healthy blood sugar and insulin are important. What about testosterone? Standard testosterone supplementation suppresses endogenous production after a brief 'honeymoon' period. This is why in my practice I always measure both free (biologically active) testosterone and free LH when evaluating male hormone function. (LH is produced by the pituitary gland. In men it stimulates the testicles to produce testosterone. When they are not responding adequately LH goes up, indicating that the problem is 'hypogonadia', usually due to background inflammation. Supplementary testosterone suppresses LH and dulls the receptors over time. There is a better way....